Todd Phillips (born April 21, 1953) is an American double bassist. He has appeared on a number of acoustic instrumental and bluegrass recordings made since the mid-1970s. A two-time Grammy Award winner and founding member of the original

David Grisman Quintet The David Grisman Quintet is a self-styled alternative bluegrass/acoustic jazz band founded by David Grisman in 1975 in San Francisco, California, US. The quintet draws from genres including Bill Monroe's bluegrass legacy and Django Reinhard's 1 ...

, Phillips has made a career of performing and recording with acoustic music artists.

Career

Along with

Tony Rice David Anthony Rice (June 8, 1951 – December 25, 2020), known professionally as Tony Rice, was an American guitarist and bluegrass musician. He was an influential acoustic guitar player in bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, newgrass and a ...

and

Darol Anger Darol Anger is an American violinist and founding member of The David Grisman Quintet. Career Darol Anger entered popular music at the age of 21 as a founding member of The David Grisman Quintet. Anger played fiddle to David Grisman's mandol ...

, Phillips was a founding member of the original David Grisman Quintet. He spent five years playing rhythm mandolin and bass with the group. He then spent another five years with Rice in

The Tony Rice Unit David Anthony Rice (June 8, 1951 – December 25, 2020), known professionally as Tony Rice, was an American guitarist and bluegrass musician. He was an influential acoustic guitar player in bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, newgrass and a ...

. Rice and Phillips also worked together with

J. D. Crowe James Dee Crowe (August 27, 1937December 24, 2021) was an American banjo player and bluegrass band leader. He first became known during his four-year stint with Jimmy Martin in the 1950s. Crowe led the bluegrass group New South from 1971 until ...

Doyle Lawson Doyle Lawson (born April 20, 1944) is an American traditional bluegrass and Southern gospel musician. He is best known as a mandolin player, vocalist, producer, and leader of the 6-man group Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. Lawson was inducted in ...

Bobby Hicks Bobby Hicks (born July 21, 1933) is a Grammy Awardbr>winningAmerican bluegrass fiddler and a professional musician with more than fifty years of experience. Career Hicks was born in Newton, North Carolina and learned to play the fiddle befor ...

and

Jerry Douglas Gerald Calvin "Jerry" Douglas (born May 28, 1956) is an American Dobro and lap steel guitar player and record producer. Career In addition to his fourteen solo recordings, Douglas has played on more than 1,600 albums. As a sideman, he has ...

in the now classic bluegrass recording group, the

Bluegrass Album Band Bluegrass Album Band was a bluegrass supergroup, founded by Tony Rice and J. D. Crowe in 1980. Originally, there was no intention to build a permanent group and the main reason for the collaboration was to record a solo album for Tony Rice ...

, producing six albums over fifteen years. Since then, Phillips has had the opportunity to work with a virtual "who's who" of acoustic music's finest, including

Vassar Clements Vassar Carlton Clements (April 25, 1928 – August 16, 2005) was an American jazz, swing, and bluegrass fiddler. Clements has been dubbed the Father of Hillbilly Jazz, an improvisational style that blends and borrows from swing, hot jazz, and ...

Ricky Skaggs Rickie Lee Skaggs (born July 18, 1954), known professionally as Ricky Skaggs, is an American neotraditional country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, ma ...

Sam Bush Charles Samuel Bush (born April 13, 1952) is an American mandolinist who is considered an originator of progressive bluegrass music. In 2020, he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame as a member of New Grass Revival. ...

, Stephane Grapelli,

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...

John Hartford John Cowan Hartford (December 30, 1937 – June 4, 2001) was an American folk, country, and bluegrass composer and musician known for his mastery of the fiddle and banjo, as well as for his witty lyrics, unique vocal style, and extensive kno ...

Alison Brown Alison Brown (born August 7, 1962) is an American banjo player, guitarist, composer, and producer. She has won and has been nominated for several Grammy awards and is often compared to another banjo prodigy, Béla Fleck, for her unique style o ...

, Mike Marshall, Stuart Duncan, Tim O'Brien,

Bryan Sutton Bryan Sutton is an American musician. Primarily known as a flatpicking acoustic guitar player, Sutton also plays mandolin, banjo, ukulele, and electric guitar. He also sings and writes songs. Biography Early career Sutton's grandfather and ...

Chris Thile Christopher Scott Thile (; born February 20, 1981) is an American mandolinist, singer, songwriter, composer, and radio personality, best known for his work in the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek and the acoustic folk and progressive blue ...

Del McCoury Delano Floyd McCoury (born February 1, 1939) is an American bluegrass musician. As leader of the Del McCoury Band, he plays guitar and sings lead vocals along with his two sons, Ronnie McCoury and Rob McCoury, who play mandolin and banjo respec ...

Natalie McMaster Natalie MacMaster (born June 13, 1972) is a Canadian fiddler from Troy, Inverness County, Nova Scotia who plays Cape Breton fiddle music. MacMaster has toured with the Chieftains, Faith Hill, Carlos Santana, and Alison Krauss, and has record ...

Darrell Scott James Darrell Scott, known as Darrell Scott (born August 6, 1959), is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. The son of musician Wayne Scott, he moved as a child to East Gary, Indiana (known today as Lake Station, Indiana). ...

, and

Larry Campbell Larry W. Campbell (born 28 February 1948) is a Canadian politician that served as the 37th mayor of Vancouver, Canada from 2002 until 2005 and since 2005 has been a member of the Senate of Canada. Before he was mayor, Campbell worked for th ...

. In 1983 Phillips received his first Grammy Award for his work with

The New South New South, New South Democracy or New South Creed is a slogan in the history of the American South first used after the American Civil War. Reformers used it to call for a modernization of society and attitudes, to integrate more fully with the ...

(Crowe, Skaggs, Rice, and Douglas) in a live concert recording, ''Bluegrass – The Greatest Show on Earth''. That year, he also finished his critically acclaimed first solo recording, ''Released'' (Varrick Records), featuring Tony Rice and Darol Anger. Throughout the 1980s, ''Frets Magazine'' readers chose Phillips in five Readers Poll Awards for "best jazz" and "best bluegrass bassist". Phillips has recorded much since then as producer, engineer and artist. In 1993 he produced

Kathy Kallick Kathy Kallick (born September 19, 1952) is an American bluegrass musician, bandleader, vocalist, guitar player, songwriter, and recording artist. Biography Kallick's mother, Dodi Kallick, was a leading member of the Chicago-area folk music scene ...

's ''Matters of the Heart'', and in 1995 he released his traditional "old-time" bluegrass instrumental CD, ''In the Pines'' (Gourd Music), and another CD of all-original, jazz-influenced compositions ''Timeframe'' (with

Paul McCandless Paul Brownlee McCandless Jr. (born March 24, 1947) is an American multi-instrumentalist and founding member of the American jazz group Oregon. He is one of the few jazz oboists. He also plays bass clarinet, English horn, flute and soprano saxoph ...

, Compass Records). Phillips' second Grammy Award came in 1997 as producer of ''True Life Blues – The Songs of Bill Monroe''. The album received three Grammy nominations and won Bluegrass Album of the Year. The project also received two IBMA Awards (International Bluegrass Music Association). Throughout the 1990s Phillips toured and recorded with PsychoGrass (Anger, Marshall, Grier, Trischka, Phillips), The Laurie Lewis Band, NewGrange (O'Brien, Anger, Marshall, Brown, Aaberg, Phillips), The Tim O'Brien Band w/Darrel Scott, and Phillips, Grier & Flinner, among others. Phillips has produced recordings for guitar great

David Grier David Grier is an American acoustic guitarist. He is considered to be one of the premier flatpicking guitarists in the world. His crosspicking, unique phrasing, and his ability to create multiple variations on a theme are hallmarks of his play ...

(''Panorama''), and two projects for mandolinist

Matt Flinner Matt Flinner is an American mandolinist, music transcriber, and ensemble leader. Mike Marshall has called him "one of the truly great young mandolinists of our generation." Biography Early years Flinner's first musical experiences were in Sal ...

(''The View From Here'' and ''Latitude''), which led to the formation of the innovative instrumental trio Phillips, Grier & Flinner, and their two highly acclaimed CDs, ''Phillips, Grier & Flinner'', released in 1999, and ''Looking Back'', released in 2002 (Compass Records). These two CDs are unique in the world of bluegrass or jazz-based instrumental music, successfully featuring only acoustic guitar, bass and mandolin as the complete ensemble. Phillips has taught at several music camps, and in 2001 he completed an instructional video/DVD series for Homespun Tapes, ''Essential Techniques for Acoustic Bass, I&II''. Recently he has produced and engineered projects at his home studio, including for

Noam Pikelny Noam Pikelny (born February 27, 1981, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American banjoist. He is a member of the group Punch Brothers and was previously in Leftover Salmon as well as the John Cowan Band. Pikelny is a nine-time Grammy Award nominee, win ...

, Bearfoot Bluegrass, and PsychoGrass. He mixed (and played on) the latest

Laurie Lewis Laurie Lewis is an innovative American singer, musician, and songwriter in the genre of bluegrass music. History Laurie Lewis was born in Long Beach, California on September 28, 1950. Her family moved regularly from place to place until she w ...

Band CD, ''The Golden West''. Phillips' most recent effort is a tribute recording project for

Rounder Records Rounder Records is an independent record label founded in 1970 in Somerville, Massachusetts by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin. Focused on American roots music, Rounder's catalogue of more than 3000 titles includes records by Al ...

, featuring the songs of Hazel Dickens performed by a host of legendary artists including

Joan Osborne Joan Elizabeth Osborne (born July 8, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, and interpreter of music, having recorded and performed in various popular American musical genres including rock, pop, soul, R&B, blues, and country. She is best kn ...

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American ...

, and

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, including ...

. In November 2006 he appeared on the ''Late Show with David Letterman'' with Elvis Costello and Rosanne Cash during a trip to New York to record them both for the Dickens tribute project. He currently tours with Phillips, Grier & Flinner; PsychoGrass; and

. Along with John Doyle and

Dirk Powell Dirk Powell (born 1969) is an American fiddler, banjo player, and singer. Powell was born in Oberlin, Ohio into a family with deep Kentucky roots. He has lived in Louisiana since 1992. He is considered one of the world's leading experts on traditio ...

he forms the band for

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...

References

External links

Todd Phillips official website

Todd Phillips DVDs at Homespun
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Todd 1953 births Living people Musicians from San Jose, California Record producers from California Guitarists from California 20th-century American bass guitarists David Grisman Quintet members Bluegrass Album Band members Montreux (band) members Psychograss members